A skin-covered meat product such as poultry and particularly chicken when subjected to heat at a certain intensity, causes the moisture present in the meat beneath the skin to vaporize. These vapors create pockets between the meat and the skin and act as an insulator for the meat. This results in the meat beneath the skin being subjected to only moderate heating, hence, insufficiently cooked and slight to moderate moisture loss. The skin, on the other hand, being in direct contact with the heat, loses moisture more rapidly and if not controlled eventually shrinks and burns. When stored at refrigeration temperature, the uneven moisture loss causes excessive shrinking and wrinkling of the skin accompanied by discoloration to a grayish purple color resulting in the finished product having an unacceptable appearance.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to produce a cooked, skin-covered meat product with acceptable appearance.
Another object of the present invention is a process for producing a skin-on poultry product with an acceptable appearance.
A further object of the present invention is a process for producing a skin-on poultry product with an unacceptable appearance after refrigerated storage at temperature of from 32.degree. F. to 40.degree. F. for up to 21 days.